𝑶𝒎𝒆𝒏 𝑶𝒇 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 ✓

Chapter Twelve

THE police patrols arrived after a few minutes of Thomas's call. He continued to let out a few sobs of fear as he saw the professional marine divers jump into the water, while an officer tried to calm him down.

The first diver came out of the water holding a familiar body that he recognized almost immediately.

The exact same outfit.

The exact same shoes.

The exact same face.

"Griffin...?"

He took a quick glance over his wrists, spotting the deep cuts and bruises. His face was as pale as the moon, his body cold and wet.

"He's not breathing!" one officer shouted, which made him flinch and cry again.

They began to press on his chest cautiously, to no avail.

Meanwhile the other marine diver came out with the other familiar body. His girlfriend.

The set her down on the ground and began press against her chest once again.

"She has a pulse!"

One push.

Two pushes.

Three pushes.

"Come on, Mal..." he whispered, tears staining his lightly pink cheeks.

"She's not breathing!"

His heart dropped. His mind immediately drifted to the worst idea in the world. He was suddenly so afraid of losing the two people he cared about the most.

Four pushes.

Five pushes.

Six pushes.

Just then, she woke up coughing.

Thomas almost cried in happiness as he ran towards her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight, desperate hug.

"Oh my God! I thought I lost you..."

He planted a small kiss on her lips. She kissed back right away, then broke away after a few seconds.

Turning to look at Griffin, they saw the officers covering him with a plain, white sheet. Mal began sobbing as she hugged her boyfriend.

"Are you okay, babe...? Are you... Feeling okay? I love you so much, please don't do this to me again."

She nodded, running her fingers through his soft hair. "I'm okay..."

"You need to tell me everything, okay?"

She nodded again, then shoved him away gently and planted another kiss on his lips.

That moment, an officer approached them.

"Is this your friend?"

They both nodded in agreement.

"We need you to come with us to the police station to deliver your statements."

The pair followed the officer to the police car, taking one last look at their friend, who was being loaded into the ambulance to be taken to the mortuary.

Mal let out a tear and held on to her boyfriend's hand, squeezing it gently.

"It's going to be okay, babe..."

But they could only hope.

-

After they were done, they soon left the police station, still holding each other's hands.

"You owe me an explanation, remember?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I do. Let's start, shall we?"

He turned to her as they continued to walk.

"So... at first, Griffin was acting strange because he saw his doppelgänger."

"His what?"

"His doppelgänger means a person that's, in fact, a copy of Griffin. I mean, literally. Seeing your doppelgänger means death. Griffin must've seen his, and that was why he wanted to spend so much time with us. But it also drove him crazy."

He nodded while listening, trying to take the information all in.

"So when Griffin killed himself, his doppelgänger appeared to his friends only to tell them that he needed help. He needed to be buried."

Thomas shrugged. "That explains it. But, how did you know all that?"

"I was interested in it for a while. But also when we were chasing him to the bridge, I noticed that, despite it being in the late afternoon, Griffin had no shadow. Doppelgängers have no shadows."

He stopped in his tracks for a few minutes. He could've noticed that if he really paid attention, but it wouldn't have crossed his mind.

"So is it over then? We just have to go through the funeral and that's it?"

She nodded.

"Thomas, I... I miss Griffin. I know I don't show it sometimes, but... I've always missed him."

He shook his head and leaned in for a hug.

"Me too, babe. Me too."